After Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring (D) dismissed Virginia’s gun sanctuaries as unlawful, Second Amendment activists across the state are urging gun owners to resist the enforcement of stricter gun laws, which they deem as unconstitutional.
In a memo on Dec. 26, Second Amendment action groups ‘Gun Owners of America’ and ‘Virginia Citizens Defense League’ called for citizens to actively resist the implementation of imminent gun restricting laws.
Over 100 counties and cities have passed gun sanctuary resolutions vowing to protect citizen’s constitutional rights to bear and sell arms.
“Should the government in Richmond act lawlessly, then local officials and the people they represent will not cooperate and may take steps to actively resist,” said the letter.
The letter came in response to Herring’s advisory opinion published Dec. 20 wherein he declares gun sanctuary resolutions to “have no legal force.”
In turn, gun sanctuary proponents in their letter argued that the recently-passed state bills declaring the government’s right to seize the arms of Virginia’s law-abiding citizens were unlawful.
“The U.S. Constitution and the Virginia Constitution are the statements of the will of the people themselves and the compacts from which the Virginia legislature draws its authority. Should the Virginia General Assembly, along with the Virginia governor or attorney general, enact and attempt to enforce a law which is prohibited by Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution or Article I, Section 13 of the Virginia Constitution, and the pre-existing, inalienable rights of the people, then such law is of no legitimacy—and void. In response, local government officials who have sworn an oath to uphold the federal and state constitutions unquestionably have the inherent power—and the duty—to refuse to enforce such unconstitutional laws, and even to protect the people against enforcement.”
Second Amendment Sanctuaries
After a majority of Virginia’s 95 counties declared themselves sanctuary jurisdictions, Herring said in his advisory opinion that the resolutions passed by local governments declaring themselves “Second Amendment Sanctuaries” have “no legal effect.”
These localities “cannot nullify state laws” and must follow gun violence prevention measures passed by the General Assembly, he wrote.
“These resolutions have no legal force, and they’re just part of an effort by the gun lobby to stoke fear.”
More than 100 cities, towns, and counties have passed such resolutions since Democrats won majorities in the state Senate and House of Delegates in November. They vowed to oppose any new gun laws they believe violate the Second Amendment.
The sanctuary resolutions came in anticipation of stricter red flag gun laws backed by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (D) that would allow the temporary removal of guns from someone who is deemed to be dangerous to themselves or others.
The Associated Press and The Epoch Times contributed to this report.